Biographies
Nicola Bellamy
Nicola has a big belief in community and has been involved in a number of community led projects such as applying for and succeeding in a grant award for £95,000 to fund a new play area from HS2 and South Northants District Council. Along with support from Sure Start set up and ran Parent and Toddler group for young children in the community. Nicky organised a number of charity events within the community to raise money for local charities or national charities that support members of the community. She has been a primary school governor since 2012 and went on to be Chair of Governors. Nicola has also been a Director since 2015
Nicola is part of Thames Valley Police and has responsibility for resource planning and forecasting demand. In her role she analyses response times and plans the staffing required to service both pre-planned and reactive operational need as well as managing staff absence and utilising resources accordingly. Nicola is also responsible for the training delivery and force planning and is the forecasting and scheduling manager for JAAM restaurants.
Throughout her career she managed a team of people including the oversight of event planning. She has had responsibility for the appraisal process for her teams to optimise performance. Nicola has also spent time in the pursuit management team where she worked with the Force Inspector to manage the firearms response team. She has also worked in communications and is aware of the demands of the first response teams who manage 999.
Prior to her police career, Nicola managed the new business transfer to Vodafone for corporate accounts. She also managed claims for unemployment benefit and assessed claims on a needs basis.
Sophie Hill
Sophie graduated from UMIST with a degree in International Management and French, having spent a year studying at a school of management in France. Sophie then joined BT, initially in their graduate scheme and later progressing into management roles in the global business.
When Sophie started her own family, she developed a strong passion for schools and started both working and volunteering in education.
Sophie started volunteering in 2012, taking up her first role as Chair of her local Pre-School. Sophie then joined the governing board of King’s Meadow School in Bicester, and was Chair of Governors from 2016 – 2021.
Sophie currently works in a sales leadership role for an education software company which supports 22,000 schools, and previously worked for one of the UK’s main exam boards and global education publishing companies.
Sophie brings a broad range of experience to the Board, including sales, marketing and business skills as well as in-depth knowledge of governance and education. Sophie hopes that this combined knowledge will directly benefit the children of Prime7 Multi-Academy Trust.
Andrew Jeffrey
Andrew is currently the Chief Finance Officer of a Multi Academy Trust in Oxfordshire and is responsible for the financial monitoring, planning and strategy of that Trust. Previous to this he was Manager in the ‘Not for Profit’ team at Cooper Parry which has a significant Not for Profit and Academy presence in the Midlands. Andrew joined Cooper Parry in August 2019 when the Education team at Whitley Stimpson Limited transferred their Academy and Not for profit portfolio to facilitate the team’s growth and knowledge base. He has over 12 years’ experience with audit and accounting.
Andrew specialises in the education and charity sector and has worked with, and advised, a diverse range of educational organisations, including Academies, Free Schools, Independent Schools, Further Education colleges, Catholic Education offices and systemic schools as well as a wide range of local, regional and national charities. Andrew’s role in particular within the education team has been to work closely with Academy Trusts, not only through the audit and production of year end accounts, but also providing financial advice and support to schools and assisting them in undertaking and completing the relevant reporting requirements of the ESFA.
He is also a Trustee of another School Multi Academy Trust with 11 Schools across Buckinghamshire.
Maxine Ward
Maxine is passionate about ensuring all children have access to high quality education. She has been a trustee/governor for 20 years, supporting schools and multi-academy trusts in the East of England. She is a Chair of Governors and has held various trustee roles for organisations that support children and young people.
Her early career was in the financial services industry where she held relationship management roles in corporate banking. She then moved into a strategic role in international business where she was responsible for the evaluation of acquisitions and mergers in the USA.
Maxine held senior roles in consultancy, developing an interest in HR and business leadership programmes. She was responsible for various restructuring projects including business re-organisations. She has a particular interest in delivering effective change management. The breadth of her experience has been gained through applying her professional expertise within a range of organisations.
Maxine established Hallam Learning Consultancy in 2005 when she designed and delivered business and strategy simulations which were delivered world-wide. Latterly, Hallam Learning has specialised in supporting organisations to improve governance. Maxine holds a Masters degree in HR and is a qualified CIPD professional. She also holds qualifications in banking, project management and governance. She is passionate about the role PRIME7 plays in delivering children’s education and she is proud to be involved in supporting the Trust’s communities.
Kathryn Harper-Quinn MBE
In 2022, Kathryn Harper-Quinn completed 25 years as Headteacher at Hounslow Heath Infant and Nursery School and took the school to Outstanding in 2015 and again in 2018. Kathryn transformed the school from a satisfactory three form entry school, with dilapidated conditions and no management team, into an Outstanding, seven form entry school with an award-winning Earth Curriculum.
Prior to that, she worked in a range of schools and early years settings in education and childcare, in both the UK and Australia. Her initial training was undertaken in Australia and continued in the UK, completing a master’s in leadership and management in 2002.
Kathryn, has supported other schools’ improvement journeys through Peer Reviews, providing training on behalf of the Local Authority and by building a relationship with Heathrow that has resulted in significant funding for many schools. In addition, she has also provided training /conference sessions for St Mary’s University and the Youth Sport Trust.
With extensive experience in all areas of education leadership and management, Kathryn is also an Accredited Consultant with the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools, (IAPS), Areas of professional interest are the EYFS/Infant Curriculum/Teaching and Learning, Writing, CPD, EAL/SEN Provision, and the development of effective outdoor learning environments, all with the aim of ensuring outstanding outcomes for all pupils. Kathryn, alongside other educational consultancy work, is currently working to support the innovative AI Writer’s Toolbox roll out in the UK.
In the Kings Birthday Honors List June 2023, Kathryn was awarded an MBE for Services to Education
Richard Maxwell
Richard (Rich), a devoted family man and esteemed professional, calling the quaint village of Water Orton home, just a stone's throw away from bustling Birmingham. Married to Emma and blessed with two daughters, Ruby and Nancy, Richard finds fulfilment in both his personal and professional life. With over two decades at Lloyds Banking Group, Richard excels as a Relationship Growth Manager, within the bank's Customer Engagement team looking at initiatives to help shape the strategy for the retail banking part of the bank. Venturing into uncharted territory, Richard embarks on a new role as a Trustee for Prime 7 Multi-Academy Trust, bringing his strategic prowess and dedication to educational governance. Beyond his corporate and trustee responsibilities, Richard finds solace in running and cherishing moments with loved ones, embodying the essence of work-life balance.
David Shakeshaft
Other than a part-time job in a second-hand bookshop as a student, David has worked exclusively in primary education since 1995. During his career, David has worked in five local authorities, three multi-academy trusts, and (substantively) at ten different schools.
David’s primary school teaching roles included responsibilities for leading English and mathematics. In 2004 David was certified as an Advanced Skills Teacher and supported secondary schools in Solihull with their early KS3 provision and transition between primary and secondary settings. Shortly after, in 2006, David gained the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers whilst serving as a Deputy Headteacher in Solihull.
David has led primary schools as Headteacher, Principal, and latterly Executive Headteacher. He currently works in a primary-only multi-academy trust in Staffordshire.
David’s interests outside the immediate sphere of education include writing, photography, and the outdoors.